If New South Wales did not quite erase the scar of being bowled out for 91 on the first day of the corresponding match last season, then the rounding up of Western Australia's batsmen for 217 was a sound start to their bid for a victory to start the Sheffield Shield for 2012-13.

Led for the first time in a Shield match by Australia's captain Michael Clarke, the Blues bowlers made the most of their leader's successful call at the coin toss, limiting the Warriors to 3 for 61 at lunch then chipping away across a rain-speckled afternoon despite the efforts of Mitchell Marsh and Adam Voges (44).

Scott Henry and Peter Nevill, fit again after missing Sunday's limited overs match with food poisoning, then survived 1.5 overs without loss before bad light called a halt to play.

As he had done in the one-dayer, Doug Bollinger returned the best figures for NSW, though it was an ensemble effort as Trent Copeland, Josh Hazlewood, Moises Hanriques and the spinner Steve O'Keefe all contributed.

The wicketkeeper Brad Haddin claimed a trio of catches behind the stumps as lateral movement and outside edges accounted for three of the first four wickets, Marcus North upset to have given away the other when he hooked at Hazlewood and offered a catch to Bollinger at fine leg shortly before lunch.

Marsh's afternoon innings was a patient follow-up to the 78 he managed in the one-day match, but he and the rest of the bowlers will now have to redouble their efforts on day two if they are to regather the ground lost by the batsmen.